comScore launches tool to measure online ads

ComScore Inc. has introduced a tool for measuring how frequently consumers view ads delivered in a variety of ways, including via web sites, mobile sites and apps, and television.

The web measurement firm’s “validated Campaign Essentials MultiPlatform,” or vCE MP, compiles information gathered from comScore’s panel of more than 1 million Internet users and through software tags on nearly 100 major content web site publishers that host online ads. Many of the publishers provide information on multiple platforms, including web sites and mobile sites and apps, says Andrew Lipsman, vice president of industry analysis for comScore.

The ad measurement tool, which is in beta testing, provides data on gross rating points, commonly known as GRP, which measure the percentage of an ad’s targeted audience reached by an ad and the frequency at which that audience views the ad. The tool also compiles data on the demographics of consumers presented with ads.

But what makes vCE MP different from other ad measurement tools, Lipsman says, is its ability to compile such data and apply it specifically to the advertising platforms of web sites, mobile sites and apps, and television, plus indicate when online ads were shown on specific devices, including smartphones and tablet computers.

“Advertising measurement across TV, digital and mobile has long been heralded as the holy grail of media research,” says Brad Smallwood, head of measurement and insights at Facebook Inc., which is involved in the tool’s beta test. “Having access to ad delivery data across multiple screens, including mobile, should provide answers to critical measurement and effectiveness questions that the market has been seeking for years.”

ComScore says it will make the vCE MP tool commercially available after the current beta test period, though it has not given a specific release time. It also has not revealed pricing.